CHAPTER THIRTEEN
WHEN ZACH LOOKED back on his life, a life littered with examples of things he shouldn’t have done, a fair proportion of his regrets involved Brittany.
He shouldn’t have had sex with her when she was eighteen and too naive to know he was trouble. He shouldn’t have married her and he shouldn’t have left her ten days later.
When she’d returned to the island, he should have kept his distance. He shouldn’t have had sex with her that night in her cottage and he definitely shouldn’t have followed her to the pond the night before and kissed her.
That kiss had destroyed all hope of sleep and he’d lain awake listening to the ghostly sounds of the loons on the far side of the pond, trying with no success to will his body into slumber. He’d contemplated a cold swim in the water, but decided in the end that there was no point. There was
only one activity that was going to relieve his current frustration and that was strictly off-limits.
All he had to offer a woman was a satisfying sex life and a whole lot of emotional frustration and misery, and he wasn’t prepared to serve that up to Brittany a second time.
He rose early, packed up his things and kept his distance as the other counselors gathered the group together for breakfast around the fire. Breakfast was followed by a morning swimming and canoeing in the pond.
Brittany was directing activities from the bank, wearing her favorite cargoes with a long-sleeve cotton shirt. Underneath the smile, her eyes looked tired and Zach could see she hadn’t slept any better than he had.
He wished he could leave behind the conversation of the night before, but it clung to him like a burr clings to a sweater.
Have you wondered what would have happened if we’d met for the first time now?
He didn’t need to wonder. He knew.
He would have stripped off those cargoes and kept her in bed until neither of them had the energy to crawl to the door. He would have explored every part of her firm, athletic body and then done it again and again. It didn’t help that he knew how physical she was. Her sexual appetites matched his, and knowing that did nothing for his internal cooling system.
Hot and frustrated, he turned away and focused on something else. Usually the forest was his favorite place, but now he was looking forward to getting back to his cabin, away from Brittany’s swinging braid and infectious energy.
Because walking behind her would have meant trying not to stare at the swing of her hips, he chose to walk in front and led the way as they hiked back down the forest trail towards Camp Puffin.
Pushing the pace, he arrived back at camp a few minutes ahead of the others and immediately sensed a problem.
The area that was normally thronging with activity was eerily quiet and he glanced towards the catering barn and saw Callie, one of the counselors, guarding the door.
White-faced with anxiety, she waved at him frantically and he walked across to her.
“Problem?”
She cast a nervous look over his shoulder. “There’s a dog prowling around the camp. Looks like someone dumped him in the forest and he broke loose. There’s wire still attached to his neck. No one knows who owns him, but the chief of police is on his way. In the meantime Philip told all the kids to stay in the barn. You should bring your group here, too.” As she finished speaking Zach saw the dog, a muscular bulldog breed, emerge from the trees, snarling and shaking his head as he tried to free himself from the wire. It didn’t take an expert to know the animal was crazed with pain and fear.
Zach was about to radio Rachel and the rest of the group to warn them to stay back until the situation was handled when he saw a flash of red at the edge of the forest, and there was Grace, slightly ahead of the group because she’d been trying to catch up with him, her ribbons unraveling in her blond hair.
She saw him a split second before she saw the dog.
And froze. She opened her mouth to scream, but fortunately her lungs wouldn’t work.
The dog saw her, lowered its head and started to growl, a deep-throated, menacing sound that would have sent chills down the spine of the most confident child.
And Grace Green certainly wasn’t that.
Zach knew fear when he saw it. He’d seen the same look in his eyes every time he’d looked in the mirror during the first eight years of his life.
Ignoring the frantic warnings of the counselor next to him, Zach strode across the clearing towards Grace.
“Stand still, Grace.” He pitched his tone to a level he hoped would reassure her and not unsettle the dog. “Don’t move. He doesn’t want to hurt you. He’s got a wire round his neck that’s making him angry. It’s not about you. He doesn’t want to hurt you. He’s just telling you he’s in pain. And we’re going to fix that. Stand still. That’s it. Good girl. I’ve got this.”
As he drew closer Zach could see dried blood matting the dog’s fur and felt a rush of anger.
The dog snarled a warning. Zach chose to ignore it.